They left at dawn two days later.
No announcement. No farewell gathering. Marron closed the door to her guild lodgings, adjusted the strap of her satchel, and stepped onto the road leading out of Lumeria's eastern gate with Mokko at her side and Lucy's jar secured carefully in a padded sling at her hip.
The Food Cart rolled behind them.
The city rose bright and proud in the morning light—stone walls catching gold, banners stirring lazily in the breeze—but Marron didn't look back more than once. Not out of resentment.
Just readiness.
She was full of uncertain feelings. The kind that fluttered instead of settling. But beneath that was something lighter.
Excitement.
She didn't have a destination beyond "away." No evaluation to attend. No council to report to. No dungeon waiting for sacrifice. Just open road and the quiet creak of wheels behind her.
